Sweeter than me
by Her Sweetness
Summary: Tea dies. Short but sweet... Oh so sweet! If you hate the cheerleader then READ! R&R. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

Sweeter than me  
  
Chapter 1:  
  
It was around mid-august when Tea had everyone over at her house for a couple of hours. See, Tea's parents had just split up. And her mother had taken a weeklong trip to the Bahamas and that left Tea all alone and upset.  
  
So, Yugi thought it would be a great idea too get everyone over to her house just to cheer her up. But Yugi doesn't always have the best ideas...  
  
"I just can't believe that they left me like that... the least my mom could have done is take me with her." Tea was sitting on the couch, curled up.  
  
"It's okay Tea. Everyone needs a vacation from everything at least once." Yugi was sitting next to her.  
  
"Yeah, but where's my vacation?"  
  
"Well, Tea. Did you ask your mom is you could go with her?" Ryou asked.  
  
"No, but I thought she'd take me too."  
  
Kaiba shifted in his seat, "Maybe she didn't have the money to take you."  
  
Everyone looked at him, "Were not ALL made of money like you Seto Kaiba."  
  
"I know."  
  
Bakura, Marik and Malik were playing with a mouse they found in the corner. "Hey, I bet I can make him squeak louder than you two can." Bakura challenged.  
  
"You're on!"  
  
Bakura took the mouse in his hand and used his other hand to flick it clear across the room right into Duke's hair. "Ick!"  
  
"Aw, man. Bakura you killed it!" Malik whined.  
  
"Yup, that means that I win."  
  
"Bakura!" Ryou yelled from across the room. "What did you do?"  
  
Bakura crawled over, "How come as soon as something happens you assume that I did it?"  
  
Duke glared at him, "You shot a mouse in my hair!"  
  
"So."  
  
"So, it's dead now."  
  
"Well, Tea shouldn't have rabid mice living with her."  
  
"Rabid mice?" Tea looked down from the couch, "Mr. Floppy!"  
  
"Mr. Floppy?" they all echoed.  
  
"Oh my gosh, my pet mouse!" Tea picked him up and shot a mean look at Bakura. "This mouse has been in my family for years!"  
  
"Then it's about time he died..." Bakura muttered.  
  
Tea ran into her room and shut the door, while everyone else gave Bakura mean looks.  
  
"What?" Bakura looked at Marik and Malik. They shrugged their shoulders.  
  
When Bakura and Ryou got home they sat down for a little talk.  
  
"Bakura, you can't just go to other people's houses and kill there pets!" Ryou leaned back into the couch.  
  
"But it was just a mouse. And we were having a contest! Tea is over reacting."  
  
"She is not, that mouse was in her family for years. How would you feel?"  
  
"I don't have any pet mice."  
  
"I know that but pretend, wouldn't you be sad?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Ugh!"  
  
"Well," Bakura closed his eyes, "What do you want me to do about her dead mouse?"  
  
"Were all going over again tomorrow, I want you to be especially nice to Tea."  
  
"But I hate her."  
  
"That's fine. Just don't hate her out loud."  
  
----------------------------------------------  
  
"It's not fair. Bakura killed it before we could." Malik whined to his yami.  
  
"I know. I wish we had another mouse... hey, maybe Tea has another pet mouse!"  
  
"Oh yeah, aren't we going over her house again tomorrow?"  
  
"Yup, but I really don't want to. She's such a cry baby, I mean really."  
  
"I hope she dies."  
  
"That would be something worth watching."  
  
"It sure would. Let's go to her house anyway, and see if she bits the big one tomorrow."  
  
"Okay."  
  
------------------------------------------  
  
Yugi and Yami were finished brushing their teeth and were ready for bed. Yugi was still a little worried about Tea.  
  
"Yami, do you think Tea will be okay?"  
  
"Sure, Yugi. She'll be fine."  
  
"... I hope us coming over tomorrow will make her feel better."  
  
"It will. I'm not so sure about Bakura, though."  
  
"Ryou told me that Bakura didn't feel any remorse at all about that mouse."  
  
"I'm not surprised. After all the only one Bakura's ever been compassionate about is Ryou."  
  
"Yeah..." 


	2. Chapter 2

Sweeter than me  
  
Chapter 2:  
  
The next morning Tea awaited the arrival of her friends.  
  
"Okay, let's see..." Tea looked around. "I put up all my other pets so Marik, Bakura, and Malik can't get to them... that should be all."  
  
DING-DONG! "Oh, their here!" Tea rushed to the door and straightened her skirt. She opened the door, "Oh, hey guys!"  
  
"Hey Tea." They said, they filed inside and sat in the living room.  
  
"Glad you all could make it!" Tea sat down. "Even you guys, Malik, Marik, and Bakura."  
  
They mumbled to themselves.  
  
"So, Tea." Yugi said. "How have you been holding up?"  
  
"Okay... It's weird being at home by myself."  
  
"How long will your mom be gone?" Duke asked.  
  
"Around a week or so."  
  
"Where's your dad?" Mai asked half-heartedly.  
  
"Las Vegas."  
  
Bakura and Marik busted out laughing, "Your dad's in Las Vegas?!"  
  
Malik didn't fully get it, "What's so funny?"  
  
Marik whispered in his hikari's ear, "As soon as they got a divorce, her dad went to Las Vegas to get laid!"  
  
"Oh..."  
  
"And what may I ask is so funny?" Tea was annoyed.  
  
"Nothing..." they tried to stifle their laughs.  
  
Ryou gave Bakura a warning look, and he quieted down. But Marik wanted to push Tea as far as she would go.  
  
"Uh, hey Tea?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Why did your parents split up?"  
  
"Marik! That's terribly insensitive!" The rest of them shouted.  
  
"No, that's okay... they split up because..." and she mumbled the rest.  
  
"What, I didn't hear you?" Marik teased.  
  
"MARIK!"  
  
"My dad had an affair..." Tea said.  
  
Marik and Malik looked at each other and smiled. "With who?" Malik finished his yami's dirty work.  
  
Everyone groaned and sighed.  
  
"Um... With his a flight attendant, on a trip to Santa Monica."  
  
"Flight attendant? Hey I saw something like that on my soap opera last night!" Mai smiled. "See, he wasn't happy with his wife under the sheets. So when he saw the beautiful Brittany on flight 69, he hopped right into bed with her. And when he came home, he finally knew what he'd been missing... great sex. So, he broke up with his wife and flew off to Las Vegas."  
  
"..." Tea was devastated.  
  
"Oh was not the right time to tell that story?" Mai asked.  
  
Everyone shook their heads, but in the back of the room Bakura, Marik and Malik could barely contain themselves.  
  
"Tea better hope she didn't inherit her mom's talent to ruin a guy's fun time in bed." Malik snickered.  
  
Bakura smiled, "I'd bet throughout the whole thing Tea would talk about friendship..."  
  
"Why me..." Tea sighed.  
  
"Relax Tea." Tristan tried to cheer her up, "It'll all get better soon."  
  
"I don't see how."  
  
"Maybe your mom should take sex classes." Marik butted in  
  
Tea sniffed. "..."  
  
"Marik!" Yami had enough of them. "If you don't have anything helpful to say don't say anything at all!"  
  
"But he was being helpful... I mean, if a women can't do her job in bed. She should be dumped." Bakura added.  
  
Tea said nothing.  
  
"I bet, the reason Tea's mom didn't take her is because she's trying to find someone else with lower expectations in bed."  
  
Still, Tea said nothing.  
  
"Her mom is pitiful."  
  
"And why don't the three of just shut-up!!!" Tea stood up. "I'm tired of you three making fun of me! It isn't funny! Such heartless fools like you don't deserve to live!"  
  
Bakura stood up as well. "Well, you know what? I couldn't care less what you think! You are the dumbest most boring person I know! And yes, I am counting your mom too! I seriously doubt that anyone in his or her right mind would care if you left this earth! So, why don't you just drop dead!"  
  
Tea fell to her knees then onto the ground. "..."  
  
"Tea?" Yugi poked her, "Tea?"  
  
Tea didn't move.  
  
Ryou felt her pulse the put his finger under her nose, she wasn't breathing. "She...she's dead."  
  
Everyone looked at Bakura. "What?" 


	3. Chapter 3

Sweeter than me  
  
Chapter 3:  
  
"You killed her!" Yugi started to cry.  
  
"Oh please!" Bakura snorted, "She ain't dead! C'mon you, stop playing." Bakura kicked her and she rolled over onto her side, but other than that...nothing.  
  
"Bakura..." Ryou looked at her again.  
  
"Let me see." Marik and Malik pushed their way through the crowd and starred at her for a minute.  
  
"Yup, she'd dead alright." Malik nodded.  
  
"How do you know?" Duke asked.  
  
"Because, I see dead people all the time. And she is definitely dead."  
  
Ryou started to panic, "Oh my, what do we do?"  
  
"We call the cops and tell the truth." Kaiba said calmly. "Bakura cursed her and she died."  
  
"I did not!"  
  
"Well," Joey said. "We could always make up a story about how she died."  
  
"Right! Dishonesty is always the best policy." Bakura smiled.  
  
Yugi looked up, "I thought that was Honesty is always the best policy."  
  
"Well... you thought wrong."  
  
Mai looked around thoughtfully, "We could always say that a book hit her on the head and she never woke up."  
  
"Yeah," Marik sat back. "But someone would have to hit her on the head with the book...so it would look real."  
  
Everyone looked from person to person; none of them would go near the once lively body.  
  
"Well then, I guess that's out of the question."  
  
"Why don't we just bury her in the backyard?" Bakura suggested.  
  
Ryou looked at him, "What about when her mom comes home?!"  
  
"Then..." Mai said, "We can buy a new Tea!"  
  
"New Tea?" Everyone echoed.  
  
"Yes, I saw it on a soap opera." Mai smiled. "See, Ben had killed Jessica and he didn't want to tell her adopted parents. So he asked his twin brother/mad scientist Ned, make him a new Jessica. And he did, and no one new the difference."  
  
"...Mai, that was a T.V show. Tea's mom will notice, besides where would we get a new Tea anyway?" Ryou asked.  
  
"Hey... that's not a bad idea." Marik said. "I saw an inflatable person on Blackmarket.com last week. They come custom made, too."  
  
Everyone started to consider it then the voice of reason spoke up. "You guys! We can't get a new Tea! We have to do the right thing and tell the police. We all know that Bakura didn't kill her; it was just a coincidence." Yugi stood up.  
  
He picked up the phone, "Who wants to call?"  
  
Everyone looked at Bakura. "Alright, I'll do it!"  
  
He snatched the receiver from Yugi, "Does anyone know the number for 911?"  
  
"Ugh!" Malik groaned and took the phone. He dialed the numbers and it started to ring. "Hello...yeah, we need the police and maybe an ambulance...no there's a dead person here...okay bye."  
  
"There on their way."  
  
In a couple of minutes they heard sirens outside the door. Kaiba opened the door and people rushed in and took Tea away on a cart.  
  
A policeman came in and started questioning people.  
  
"Sir?" he came up to Tristan. "What was the cause of this young lady's death?"  
  
"Uh..."  
  
Bakura walked up to him and pushed Tristan out of the way. "I told her to drop dead and she did."  
  
"Uh..." the policeman looked at everyone else, "Is that really what happened?"  
  
Everyone nodded.  
  
"Well, that's good enough for me." He walked out the door.  
  
Soon the police cars and ambulances went away.  
  
"Well, I guess we shouldn't stay at the scene of the crime to long..." Kaiba said heading for the door.  
  
"What crime?!" Bakura shouted. "She died, so what! People die everyday..."  
  
Yugi walked towards the door as well, "But this is our friend were talking about."  
  
"She wasn't my friend." Kaiba, Marik, Malik, and Bakura said.  
  
"Well, what are we gonna do about the funeral?"  
  
Everyone looked at Kaiba. "What? You don't expect me do pay for it, do you?"  
  
Everyone nodded.  
  
"What?! I didn't even like her!"  
  
Joey snuggled up to Seto, "Please! Think of it as a early birthday present...please?"  
  
Joey put on his puppy-dog face and Kaiba gave in to it, "Okay, fine."  
  
They agreed to go to the funeral home the next day to pick out everything. Soon after they all went home, no one wanted to be haunted by Tea's more than likely upset ghost.  
  
At Ryou and Bakura's house they were having another little fight.  
  
"What did you do, curse her?"  
  
"Oh sure, Ryou... I cursed Tea so she would drop dead and then I'd be forced to go to her damned funeral!"  
  
"Then how is it that the second you tell her to drop dead, she does. Things like that don't happen."  
  
"Maybe they didn't happen till now, but it happened today right in front of your own eyes!"  
  
"Oh, why me?"  
  
"Why you?! Why me?! Your not the one that everyone thinks killed a wannabe cheerleader with a curse!"  
  
"You did!"  
  
"I don't even know any curses!"  
  
"Oh really?"  
  
"Really."  
  
"Well, what about that one you used on the mailman last month. The one where he threw up every time he had sex with his wife? They got a divorce over that, Bakura!"  
  
"He deserved it. Our mail was late!"  
  
"That's because Malik and Marik were down the street squirting him with water guns!"  
  
"How was I supposed to know?"  
  
"That's not the point, the point is that you do know some curses!"  
  
"How could I not? I've lived for over five thousand years."  
  
"Ugh!"  
  
------------------------------------------------  
  
"Marik, do you really think Bakura cursed Tea?"  
  
"No, not really. He doesn't know any death curses."  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"Because I taught him all the curses he knows. And I never knew any death curses."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Are you bored?"  
  
"Yeah... there's nothing on T.V. and I finished all by video games."  
  
"Okay then, make me a sandwich."  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
"Go on. I grow more famished by the second."  
  
Malik went into the kitchen and made a sandwich, "Here you go, your majesty."  
  
Marik stuck his tongue out at him.  
  
"Marik?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Which do you like more, sandwiches or me?"  
  
"...Uh, what's in the sandwich?"  
  
"Oh!"  
  
Marik took a big bite and chewed. "YUCK!" he spat it out. "This is full of vegetables!"  
  
"Ha ha!"  
  
Marik chased him around the room for a long time. 


	4. Chapter 4

Sweeter than me  
  
Chapter 4:  
  
The next morning everyone met at the Domino Mortuary to arrange Tea's funeral. They decided to have a little one since her mom was out of town and her dad was too.  
  
They walked into the doors of the building and waited in the lobby.  
  
"Okay, so when are we going to get out of here?" Mai asked. "My soap opera is coming on in an hour."  
  
"Oh boy, and which soap opera is this, Mai?" Duke asked sarcastically.  
  
"All my parents offspring."  
  
"Ugh..."  
  
The waited about five more minutes then a man came out of the door.  
  
"Hello all."  
  
"Hey," most of them said.  
  
"Well, let's get down to business. My name is Mr. Buttram. And this..." He led the teens into another room, "Is our sleep chamber."  
  
Marik and Malik were still snickering from the man's name. "Hey, Malik. Why don't we ram his butt?"  
  
This was a room filed with different coffins.  
  
Mr. Buttram stood in the middle of the room. "Now, I have to go to the back room for a little while. Why don't you guys pick out what you want and I'll be back."  
  
The door closed behind him as he left the room.  
  
"Well... we should get this over with as soon as possible." Kaiba groaned.  
  
They spread out across the room and looked at different coffins. Marik and Malik had one the thought was suitable.  
  
"Hey Marik. This one looks good, what's it called?"  
  
"Uh..." Marik read the tag. "It says pine box."  
  
"Oh, sounds good."  
  
"Yeah, do you think Kaiba will go for it?"  
  
"He should. It only costs $300."  
  
Meanwhile, Yugi and Yami were looking on the other side of the room. Something had caught Yugi's eye and he looked at the tag.  
  
"Hey Yami, look at this one."  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"Isn't it nice? It's called Skyway to heaven."  
  
"Well, it is very pretty. But... this is Kaiba's money were spending. I don't think he'd want..."  
  
"Yami, Tea would have picked out the best coffin she could have found for us. We should do the same. Besides, Kaiba's rich."  
  
"Oh yeah."  
  
Close to them were Ryou and Bakura. Well, actually Ryou was the only one looking at the coffins. Bakura was watching the T.V they had suspended from the ceiling.  
  
Ryou picked up a label off of one. "What do you think about this one?"  
  
"..."  
  
"Bakura?"  
  
"Look, Ryou...that machine takes the shell off a boiled egg... just takes it right off."  
  
"Bakura!"  
  
"What?!" He turned around. "What is it?"  
  
"Were supposed to be looking for coffins."  
  
"Coffins? For who?"  
  
"TEA!"  
  
"Oh yeah... didn't she die yesterday?"  
  
Ryou slapped his forehead. "Just tell me what you think about this one?"  
  
"Hmm. Well, it is nice... I guess. But..."  
  
"But what?"  
  
"It looks too good for Tea."  
  
"Ugh..."  
  
Just then Mr. Buttram walked into the room. "Well, hello again. I trust you've all picked a final resting place for your friend."  
  
"Well?" Kaiba asked looking at the others.  
  
Each of them pointed to the one they liked best. Kaiba looked at each of them and looked back at Yugi. "Yugi, this one costs $6000! What were you thinking?"  
  
"Well, I wanted to give Tea a good sending off! Which is more than I can say for the rest of you." He looked at the other teens.  
  
"YAWN!" Mr. Buttram was getting bored.  
  
"What about ours, Kaiba?" Malik asked.  
  
"Hm?" Kaiba looked at it. "Hey, Buttram. How much for this pine box?"  
  
"$300."  
  
"Sold."  
  
"What?" Ryou whined. "That's a pine box!"  
  
"So, what's your point?"  
  
"..."  
  
Mr. Buttram walked over to Kaiba. "So when do you want the services? Thursday?"  
  
"No way!" Everyone yelled.  
  
"Oh yeah, I forgot... the new Sponge bob episodes."  
  
"Right."  
  
"So, how about..." He looked at his schedules, "Tuesday? At 7:00?"  
  
Marik thought. "You got a T.V guide we could check?"  
  
Kaiba elbowed him, "That'll be fine."  
  
They left after all the details were straightened out and went home. The only three that were really satisfied with the choice of coffin though were Malik, Marik, and Bakura.  
  
They were talking on the phone at midnight.  
  
"Ryou is freaking out because he thinks I killed Tea."  
  
"He'll get over it. Hikari's always make big fuss' over nothing."  
  
"I do not!"  
  
"Yes you do. Every time I ask him to make me a sandwich he goes ballistic."  
  
"You don't even ask. You just say do it!"  
  
"You two argue about the dumbest things. I don't even like sandwiches..."  
  
"Well, you're weird."  
  
Marik looked at the time. "We gotta go, there's this new show coming on in about two minutes."  
  
"Okay bye." 


	5. Chapter 5

Sweeter than me  
  
Chapter 5:  
  
Over the next couple of days, (Sunday & Monday) everyone was actually getting used to not having Tea around. No one had to hear speeches; no one had an annoying girl tagging around... Sounds fun, huh?  
  
And as much as Yugi hated the idea he even found it more fun without the cheerleader next to him.  
  
Soon, Tuesday came and it was about an hour before the funeral. Kaiba was waiting outside the building for the rest of them to come.  
  
About four cars pulled up in front of the building and everyone came out wearing blacks clothes.  
  
"Hey Kaiba." Yugi said.  
  
"Hey. Now if we could hurry up get this over with..." He led the way into the room that Tea's funeral was held.  
  
It was totally empty.  
  
"Gee, I don't know why were the only one's here. There was an advertisement in the paper." Yugi sat down.  
  
"Maybe..." Ryou sat next to him, "We were her only friends."  
  
Joey looked at her coffin up front, "So that's why she hung out with us so much."  
  
"Ra, I'm glad she's dead." Marik and Malik were sitting in the back.  
  
Bakura was sitting in the middle, "Why is it a closed coffin? What did she die of anyway?"  
  
"The doctor said it could have been a heart-attack." Kaiba leaned back in his seat.  
  
"It's a good thing that coffin is closed." Mai said shivering.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I have a thing against dead people. I can not look at them, they freak me out."  
  
"Oh please!" Tristan said. "There's nothing bad about dead people."  
  
Mai looked at him funny, "Of course there something wrong with them...they're dead!"  
  
"Ugh."  
  
There was silence for about five minutes after that, not because they were grieving but they had run out of things to talk about.  
  
"Okay this is ridiculous!" Marik stood up, "No one's coming. We might as well go home."  
  
"But Marik." Ryou said. "Don't you think someone should say a few words?"  
  
"I sure do..." Marik paused. "Let's leave."  
  
"Ugh! Yugi why don't you?"  
  
Yugi gave a weak smile and went up in front of the coffin. "Um, Tea Gardner was a very nice person. Whenever someone was in trouble, she was right there... doing what she did best. Uh, cheerleading. I always told her she should go out for the cheerleader squad at school...but she never did. And now she never will..."  
  
Yugi sat back down with a little tear in his eye. "She was a good friend."  
  
"Yeah, yeah. Can we go now?" Malik moaned.  
  
"Well," Ryou took a second look at the coffin. "I guess we've done everything worth doing."  
  
"All that and more."  
  
They all started to get up and head for the door when Mr. Buttram came into the door. "Uh, hello all."  
  
"Hey, Mr. Buttram. We were just leaving." Kaiba said.  
  
"Yeah," Yugi sighed. "Tea is someone else's hands now."  
  
"Well, for the moment. I'm afraid she's in mine." Mr. Buttram held out an urn. "There was a mix-up out back and she got cremated by mistake."  
  
"..."  
  
"I knew we shouldn't have hired a high school student."  
  
"Oh my god." Yami starred at it, "You mean Tea's in there?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
"Oh well!" Kaiba left, "It's over now!"  
  
"Yeah, I guess." Yami said.  
  
They started to walk out again. "Uh gentlemen?" Mr. Buttram said. "You're forgetting something."  
  
"What?" Bakura asked.  
  
"Tea. We can't keep her." He put it in Bakura's hands and left.  
  
Bakura gave it to Ryou and they left the building.  
  
The next morning at Ryou and Bakura's house, Ryou was a little upset.  
  
"Uh, Bakura?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Last night... did you hear any screaming? Er, ghostly sounds?"  
  
"Ghost sounds? What?"  
  
"I thought I heard yelling last night from that urn."  
  
"Oh c'mon!"  
  
"I'm serious Bakura. We gotta get rid of that thing."  
  
Bakura shifted in his seat, "Where are we gonna put it? No one else would take it."  
  
"We should throw it away."  
  
"In the trash?"  
  
"Well, no. You know my garden outside?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"We can use her as fertilizer. I've been needing some anyway, for my buttercups."  
  
"Fine."  
  
In a couple of minutes, they were both out side... urn in hand. Ryou said a little prayer and dumped out all of the ashes in the dirt around his buttercups.  
  
"Great. Now, I can visit her everyday."  
  
"Good, are we finally done?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
Ryou went inside the house, but Bakura gave one final farewell to the dead cheerleader. "Rest in pieces."

THE END...


End file.
